Hoice wasn’t athletic like Kye, so Hoice tended to hang out with me more often than with Kye. Elizabeth wasn’t a particularly attractive child, but Kye and I liked her robust personality, and we both enjoyed her company. Hoice and Elizabeth fought like typical brother and sister, but when push came to shove they helped and protected each other. If it was mechanical, Elizabeth could fix it. We teased her and called her a tomboy, but she was all girl: just a girl that liked cars. Hoice was fascinated with photography and took his Brownie with him everywhere. As he had to pay for his own film, he learned how to develop and print his own black and white prints. He would have made Ansel Adams proud. Hoice and Elizabeth lived in a modest home by the river that ran on the far side of the valley. Often we would meet somewhere in the middle, often near the old town post office. Hoice was also interested in astronomy, and he set his camera up with a telescope to make some interesting pictures. The four of us grew up together but they had to move from the valley while we were in junior high school.

While we ventured all around the magical valley, only one place was off limits, a cave with a small entrance near grandfather’s shop. Kye and I often thought about going in, and finally one night we gathered our courage and set out to explore. Heavy brush obscured the trail and the weather was quickly changing. A storm was brewing and the air electrified. When we found the entrance, Silk was there. Thinking she was there to play guard dog, we approached her quickly. She snarled. We were stunned, she had never snarled at us. We called her name, but she wouldn’t move. The wind was now whipping the low hanging branches against us, and the rain had started with an intensity we had rarely witnessed. It wasn’t hard to convince each other that this had been a bad idea. As soon as we turned our back to the cave, Silk was beside us acting perfectly normal.

Kye and I went to the older school on the edge of town, where the river cascaded over the rocks in a quaint waterfall. We never really understood why our parents had us hoof all the way to that school, when a newer, larger school was closer. They would say it was more traditional, but we thought it was because that is where they met. It was difficult to make friends there as all the other kids lived miles from our home. Kye was so athletic that he joined the basketball and football team of the other school, as our school didn’t have much in the way of sports. That gave us an excuse to visit the new school, and it is where we made friends. We were both smitten with the same girl, but neither of us wanted to date her: we enjoyed her company like that of family. Her name was Acinom (Ack-in-om), but she preferred to be called Nom. Whenever the three of us were together, we explored, played games, and did typical kid stuff. While she was my age, she had a younger, rambunctious brother, Taes, who was a year younger than Kye. Taes and Kye were always trying to prove who was stronger, faster, or smarter. They never stopped competing, but as soon as the event was over, it was forgotten. The feeling I got from Taes was different than that from Nom. It wasn’t a boy versus girl feeling, it was something deeper within me. Taes would become a great friend, but Nom was closer, more intimate without actually being near. Nom and I, or Kye and Nom, for that matter, never dated. Hoice and Nom went out ‘as friends’ a few times, but Nom was much more mature than Hoice.